


Fragrance of the Spirit

by Moon_Blitz



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Youkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 11:11:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13386606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Blitz/pseuds/Moon_Blitz
Summary: As the newest member of the Youkai Investigation Division, Akane must adjust to her coworkers and learn how to handle dangerous spirits, all while trying to figure out the growing bond between her and her new youkai servant.





	Fragrance of the Spirit

 “I took the liberty of bringing your servant with me so you could meet as soon as possible,” Ginoza said stiffly, removing an object from a small box by his feet.

 Akane stared doubtfully at the small iron tea kettle being held out to her by her new boss. She has been told she be given a youkai to assist her upon joining the Youkai Investigation Division, but had been expecting a more modern one than the one presented to her. But they had a wayward obake to catch, so she grasped the bamboo handle of the kettle and took it from Ginoza’s hands.

 The kettle shook slightly, making the lid rattle, and steam poured from the tip and curled around her for a moment before forming into an middle-aged man dressed in a modern trenchcoat, suit and tie. He was indistinguishable from a human, only the gold bands peeking out from his cuffs and collar betraying that he was a supernatural servant.

 “My lady.” The youkai bowed low for several long moments, then straightened but kept his gaze averted. “Masaoka Tomomi, at your command.”

 Akane hesitated, not sure how to respond, finally responding, “I’m Tsunemori Akane. I look forward to working with you, Masaoka-san.” Something tickled her right wrist, and she looked down to find a tendril of steam circling it, watching as it formed into a bracelet of wooden beads. It was a mark of the contract that now bound Masaoka to her, and would allow Akane to summon him whenever she wished.

 Masaoka stepped away as a truck pulled up, and Ginoza took the kettle from her and placed it and its box in what she took to be his own vehicle. He joined her as a ramp extended from the back of the truck and the rear doors opened.

 The other youkai under the control of the division came down the ramp in single file, and she was struck by how varied their ages were. Masaoka was definitely the oldest, but there was a serious-looking young woman around Akane’s age, and a young man with orange hair who looked to barely be out of his teens. The final member was a man probably around Ginoza’s age.

 “So this is our new master? She’s cute!” The orange-haired youkai said, giving her a friendly smile. His shirt collar was open, displaying the thick gold band around his throat.

 “Behave, Kagari,” Ginoza said severely, but Kagari only chuckled at his glare. Introductions followed, and Akane wondered if any of them served Ginoza. Detectives of the Youkai Investigation Division weren’t required to have a youkai servant, but new members like herself all got one, and many kept them throughout their career.

 Ginoza consulted a tablet and started the briefing. “The suspect is an obake who has possessed a man and taken a woman hostage. We’re not sure exactly what kind of obake it is, so proceed with caution. It may try to surprise us with illusions or elemental attacks. They are holed up within an old and poorly maintained apartment complex with no guardian youkai, so we have no information on where in the complex they are. We’ll split into teams and search floor by floor. Kogami and I will start on the ground floor, Kunizuka and Kagari will take the second floor, and Tsunemori-san and Masaoka will begin in the basement then proceed to the third floor. Dismissed!”

 They all nodded and split off into pairs, Akane letting Masaoka lead her towards the basement entrance at the back of the complex. The door was old and rusty, and the hinges squealed as Masaoka pushed it open.

 “So much for the element of surprise,” she mumbled as they stepped into the darkness.

 He chuckled as they paused to wait for her eyes to adjust to the dim light. “The obake must know we would be sent after it,” he said, peering into the far corner of the room. She looked in the opposite direction, but saw nothing but a mop and bucket near the wall. Raising her gun, she waited to see if it would detect spiritual energy, but lowered it when there was no response. Just an ordinary mop and bucket, then.

 They advanced deeper into the room, guns raised as they examined every suspicious object and dark recess. With an unknown obake, anything could be it in disguise, since there was no guarantee that it was still possessing the man or had the hostage with it. Once the basement had been swept, Akane lowered her gun and tapped her earbud mic. “Basement clear. Proceeding to the third floor.”

  _“Roger,”_ Ginoza replied, and she and Masaoka headed back towards the door.

  _“There’s a spider youkai on the second floor. Hasn’t seen the target or hostage, but thought she sensed an obake passing by an hour ago.”_ Kunizuka reported.

  _“Any web traps set?”_

  _“No, she mainly hunts rats in the basement.”_

 “I thought the basement was oddly quiet,” Masaoka said to Akane, gesturing at the room. “There’s recent droppings, but no rats, so the spider is doing a good job.”

 “Are there any nekomata or bakeneko around?” she asked. If there were rodents, cats weren’t far behind.

 “Couple of ordinary stray cats, but I don’t sense any others. Cat and spider youkai don’t get along well, from what I’ve seen.”

 Akane nodded, absorbing the new information. Despite growing up surrounded by city youkai, there were lots of things that she didn’t know about them, and information was scattered and often closes guarded by the youkai themselves. She followed him out of the basement and back around to the front of the building, going up the cracked and crumbling concrete steps after him. She caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eye as they passed the second floor, but relaxed once she realized it was just Kagari creeping down the common passageway leading to each apartment.

 “Masaoka-san,” she began once she judged they were out of earshot, “Is it alright for two youkai to be partnered together like that?”

 “Yeah, it’s fine. Despite his easygoing manner, he takes this job seriously. He’ll listen to Kunizuka-san.” Masaoka halted and turned to look at her, giving her a smile. “He’ll obey to you too if it comes to that, so don’t worry.”

 She smiled back at him, relieved by his words. They kept going, quickly reaching the landing for the third floor. The passage before them was dark, with only a few flickering lights providing illumination. “Beginning sweep of third floor,” Masaoka reported, Ginoza confirming the transmission a moment later. “Stay behind me,” he said over his shoulder.

 “But-”

 “No buts,” he said firmly. “I’m here to protect you, and I can’t do that if your in front of me.” Akane frowned, mildly hurt by his words. Yes, she was inexperienced, but she would never develop as a detective if she was hiding behind him all the time. But this wasn’t the place to argue the point, so she sighed and let him take point.

 The first few apartments they checked were deserted and has been so for quite a while. The next was occupied by something, but was empty when they searched it. The following apartment had been trashed, and Masaoka speculated that a group of bored ghosts had caused the damage. More empty rooms followed, and Akane wondered if anyone actually lived in the complex.

 Both of them froze as a faint scream reached them, Masaoka immediately raising his eyes to the ceiling. Another scream followed, shriller than the last, and he put his hand to his ear. “Screams coming from the fourth floor, possibly from the hostage.”

_“Copy that. Proceed to the location immediately; Kogami and I will follow. Kunizuka and Kagari, split up and cover the exits.”_

 Kunizuka acknowledged the order as Masaoka and Akane turned and dashed back towards the stairs. “What if it’s a trick?” she asked as they ran.

 “Only strong obake can mimic human sounds that accurately, and that spider youkai would have said something if she sensed a powerful youkai in her territory. Either the hostage is being threatened, or the obake has possessed her instead of the male.”

 Masaoka held up his hand as they reached the top of the stairs, and she dropped back, putting some space between them. The screams had stopped, but she caught the sound of faint sobbing, and her grip tightened on her gun. He peered cautiously around the corner, then looked more fully, scanning the passageway for a moment before beckoning her to follow.

 She did so, edging along the wall after him, watching as he carefully looked into the open door of the first apartment, gun at the ready. Satisfied that it was empty, he quickly moved on. The sobbing was growing louder, and Akane now heard the low tones of a man’s voice mixed in with it. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as they approached the second apartment and Masaoka glanced back at her, tipping his head towards the door.

 She nodded and tapped her earbud. “Target and hostage are in the second unit from the stairs,” she murmured as low as she could.

  _“Roger. Tsunemori-san, stay back and cover Masaoka. Kogami will cover him from the balcony.”_ Akane blinked, unaware that Kogami was already in position.

 Masaoka shifted so that he could ease open the door while using it as cover, and she watched him reach out and slowly turn the doorknob. The man’s voice suddenly became clear, and she tensed at his words. “-bitch, you bitch, you shouldn’t have tossed me aside like that! I’m far more valuable than this useless human! I’ve been with you for so long, and you leave me for _him?!_ You deserve so much better!”

  _“I’m in position,”_ Kogami’s voice suddenly crackled in her ear, making her start slightly. Flushing, she crouched at Masaoka’s gesture, watching him throw open the door and step into the room, gun raised and glowing as it picked up the spiritual energy of the obake in its sights.

 “Police! Drop the knife!” he commanded, cutting off another stream of threats from the target.

 “Eh, the cops?” The suspect seemed completely dumbfounded at Masaoka’s appearance, and Akane watched her servant adjust his aim as sounds of movement came from the apartment. “No, you can’t have her! She’s _mine_ , dammit, and some filthy trash like you can’t stop me!”

 “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Masaoka replied calmly, stepping further within the room and out of Akane’s sight. She saw Ginoza approaching from the opposite direction, and moved towards the door at his nod. Floorboards creaked, and she assumed her servant youkai was moving away from the door to provide her with a clear line of sight.

 That assumption was proved correct when she quickly peeked in, taking the scene in with a glance. The obake had possessed a young man and was using him to hold a knife to a young woman’s throat. The possessed man’s eyes were glowing red, a sign that the obake was upset and volatile. If things escalated further, the obake, the man and the woman could all die.

 “Can we talk it down?” she asked cautiously, looking at Ginoza as he crouched across from her, the doorway between them. He surveyed the situation and frowned.

 “Maybe. Kogami?”

  _“The obake seems pretty weak. It might fold if we pressure it. I have a clear shot if it flips out.”_

 “Masaoka, try it.”

 Within the room, Masaoka’s tone was reasonable. “I have no interest in the young lady. I’m only here to make sure no one gets hurt, and that includes yourself and the man you’re possessing.”

 “This stupid human had it coming! If he didn’t want to get hurt, then he shouldn’t have dragged her out of culinary school! That was her _passion_ , and he took her away from it, away from _me_!”

 Both Ginoza and Akane were peering into the room by now, the obake’s attention being totally focused on Masaoka. She watched in horror as the possessed man suddenly lifted the knife from the woman’s throat to his own, laughing madly before plunging the blade into his skin. The glow faded from his eyes as the obake left him, knife driving ever deeper, and the man made a choking noise before falling to the floor.

 The young woman shrieked as the murder unfolded next to her, and Akane rose, preparing to rush in and comfort her. But Ginoza’s shout of “Stay back!” stopped her, and she could only watch as the knife removed itself from the man’s throat and glowed, tripling in size in a blink of an eye. Blood still dripping from the tip, it swung towards Masaoka and rushed at him.

 Masaoka fired his gun as he ducked, but the knife obake was fast and dodged the bullet of spiritual energy. It embedded itself in the wall with a thunk, pulling free quickly and returning its attention to Masaoka. The young woman was now huddled in the far corner of the room, staring at the fight with wide eyes as tears streamed down her face.

 “Kogami-san?” she asked, watching the knife chase Masaoka around the room.

  _“Its movement is too erratic,”_ was the tense reply. She bit her lip, trying to study the situation, trying to find a way to make the obake stop moving. But things happened too fast – the knife forced Masaoka into a corner of the room, smoothly dodging two more spirit shots, then drove itself into her servant’s chest.

 “Masaoka-san!” This time, she moved, bolting into the room while raising her gun. But a blue flash came from the balcony, striking the knife obake squarely on the hilt. Energy crackled over it and Masaoka, the latter slumping against the wall and sliding to the floor. The knife twitched a few times, fighting the paralyzing shot, then reverted to the shape of a chef’s knife and went still. Ginoza stepped past her, pulling a string of prayer beads from an inner pocket, and Akane lowered her gun and turned towards the man’s body. He was definitely dead, so she edged around the pool of blood spreading across the floor and knelt down by the still-crying young woman.

 “It’s alright, you’re safe now,” she said, reaching out and grasping her shoulder. The young woman shuddered, then collapsed into Akane’s chest, sobbing. Akane soothed her as best she could, half-listening to Kogami as he filled Kunizuka and Kagari in on the situation and called for an ambulance. It wasn’t the worst outcome to the situation, but it certainly wasn’t the one she had hoped for.

 - - -

She sat by Masaoka’s bed, halfheartedly working on her report. The youkai servant had been checked over by a doctor, finding the wound inflicted by the knife obake to be relatively minor. The paralysis had worn off, and she was waiting for him to wake up. She had met Karanomori, who had brought her a cup of tea, and Akane finally put her report aside and focused on the drink, letting the heat from the cup warm her hands.

 “Hello there, little lady.”

 She jerked as Masaoka spoke, quickly turning towards him and nearly spilling her tea in the process. “Masaoka-san! How are you feeling?”

 He gave her a tired smile and reached out to pat her knee. “Pretty good, all things considered. The spirit shot hurts more than the stab wound, I think. Are you alright?”

 Relief flooded through her, and she smiled back. “I’m fine, as is the woman who was taken hostage.”

 “Good, good.” He grimaced as he sat up, waving away her attempts to stop him, so she adjusted his pillows instead.

 “You let the obake stab you so Kogami-san could shoot it, right?” Kogami had explained his actions during their debriefing, but she wanted to hear Masaoka’s reasoning behind his.

 “I did. Ko said it was moving too much, even for a crack shot like him, so I figured the only way to get it to hold still was to let it stab me.” Seeing her frown, her servant chuckled. “The obake wasn’t that strong to begin with, so it couldn’t do much damage to me. How much do you know about youkai base elements?”

 The change in subject was sudden, but she was prepared. “All youkai are embodied with one of the five basic elements, either wind, water, fire, earth or metal. A sixth element, aether, is present in all youkai,” Akane said, recalling her lessons at the police academy. “Some youkai are a mix of two elements, while some aren’t. Each element is strong against another element and weak against a different one.”

 “Very good.” Masaoka looked impressed, and she flushed and took a drink of her tea. “Now, since my youkai form is steam, my base elements are a mixture of wind and water. The knife obake’s base element is obviously metal. Metal can divide both wind and water, but cannot really harm it, and in some cases, water can damage metal. Therefore, I was stronger than it purely in terms of our base elements, and since it was enraged, it wasn’t thinking clearly and stabbed me in a spot with no vital organs – at least, no youkai vital organs.”

 Akane sat back and nodded, accepting his explanation. “So you had the upper hand from the beginning.”

 “Exactly.” He glanced at the cup in her hands and smiled. “Any chance I could get a hot drink too?”

 “I’ll go ask Karanomori-san,” she said, draining her cup before leaving the room.


End file.
